[cobirds] Re: Rarity in disguise, Jefferson County

Maybe becoming not so rare.  Here is an eBird breeding map for Hooded Merganser which shows reports from the front range of Colorado. https://ebird.org/science/status-and-trends/hoomer/range-map-breeding

These eBird maps for Hooded Merganser are interesting. Some hoodies spend the winter in Wyoming, others in southern states. Wyoming is a lot colder than southern states in the winter. Maybe there is a cold-loving subspecies. And a gravel reservoir sub-species?

Tom Wilberding

On Saturday, May 23, 2020 at 11:17:29 PM UTC-6, Tom Wilberding wrote:

Hello birders,

Yesterday afternoon Barb and I strolled three miles along Clear Creek Trail in Jeffco near I-70, hoping to see a rare warbler, like the Mourning Warbler photographed by James McCall on May 15. But most migrating warblers, as you may have noticed, have already moved northward, except for some Yellow Warblers in the process of nesting.
 

We were pleased to hear and see a couple of Spotted Sandpipers fluttering along the bank, probably nest building. We noticed a few Mallards loafing here and there. But then a strange sight: a female Merganser with two chicks. Seemed to us very early for a duck with chicks, although there are lots of Canada Geese goslings following their parents around in local parks.

An expert birder friend pointed out that the merganser family was quite a find. Not just early, but they're not supposed to breed here, and certainly not below a busy and vast construction site like the one on the south side of Clear Creek.

Per Cornell: "Hooded Mergansers breed in forested wetlands throughout the eastern half of North America and the Pacific Northwest. They are most common in forests around the Great Lakes."

Was this hoodie family a fluke, or are Hooded Mergansers staying in Colorado to breed? I believe the state's first documented breeding site of the species was found at Quincy Farm at Cherry Creek last year. Yesterday's photo below.

Cheers,
Tom Wilberding
Littleton, CO

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